[council] ICANN Releases Its Submission to the Midterm Review of the Joint Project Agreement

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http://www.icann.org/announcements/announcement-09jan08.htm
ICANN Releases Its Submission to the Midterm Review of the Joint Project 
Agreement

ICANN Board believes that JPA Responsibilities are being met
9 January 2008

MARINA DEL REY, Calif.: The Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and 
Numbers today made its formal submission to the Midterm Review of the 
Joint Project Agreement (JPA) between ICANN and the United States 
Department of Commerce.

The submission’s main point is that the conclusion of the JPA would be a 
further step in the transition envisioned since ICANN was established — 
one of moving the Domain Name System to private-sector co-ordination.

"Ending the JPA will provide long-term stability and security for a 
model that works," stated Chairman Peter Dengate Thrush in the ICANN 
Board submission. "It will provide confidence to all participants that 
the investment of time, thought and energy for over nine years has 
secured an Internet coordination body that will always be owned by all 
stakeholders, not managed or overseen by any one entity."

The U.S. Government has been committed to the transition of the DNS to 
the private sector since 1998. Over this time there have been seven 
Memorandums of Understanding between ICANN and the USG, and 13 status 
reports measuring ICANN’s progress.

The submission also states that the completion of the JPA will clearly 
signal that JPA and the MOUs before it have been successful.

"This success should be commemorated," Dengate Thrush stated in the 
Board’s submission.

ICANN’s Board is encouraging the Internet Community to take part in the 
Midterm Review before the 15 February 2008 deadline for submissions.

If you continue to believe, in full transition of the domain name system 
to the private sector, and in an Internet that is co-ordinated not 
controlled, now is the time to say so and be a part of the next step in 
that transition.

ICANN’s entire submission to the Midterm Review [PDF,101K] including a 
table outlining the organization’s achievements on the 10 
responsibilities of the JPA [PDF, 469K], is publicly available at 
http://icann.org.

A link to the Department of Commerce’s Midterm Review is available 
online at 
http://www.ntia.doc.gov/ntiahome/frnotices/2007/ICANN_JPA_110207.html.
-- 
Glen de Saint Géry
GNSO Secretariat - ICANN
gnso.secretariat[at]gnso.icann.org
http://gnso.icann.org